Mars festival is becoming ever larger event in this region, and it manages to surprise us every year. So, this year, with the announcement of the arrival of the attractive American band 30 Seconds To Mars as the main band of the festival, and the Dredg for warm-up, we were able to see the following performers: Vatra, Mizar, Nina Romić, Valetudo, Stonebride, Diskurz, Električni Orgazam, Igut and Tanker.

The atmosphere before the festival in front of Močvara was on high level, and the excitement was felt in the air. The small space, which in the beginning I perceived as the total mistake, has become dear to me during the evening, because it created a perfect atmosphere.

On the main stage, the first to appear was the well known Croatian band Vatra. They managed to make a good show, the audience accepted them well, and they were good for the “warm up”.

Dredg is one of the bands who did not play here, and it was expected that the audience will accept them with open arms, however, only a small part of the audience was singing and responding. Most of the audience screamed only when Jared Leto passed through the space behind the stage, which was for me a distraction from this excellent band. They also played several new songs, but in the end, there was no more time for some of their best pieces.

After a longer pause, it was the turn for the 30 Seconds To Mars. It was a real eruption of chaos, screaming and pushing of the fans. The main star was definitely Tomo, because his name was screamed more than Jared’s! The only thing which can be said about their performance is that they were awesome, and the same is true for the atmosphere. Jared has definitely used his acting talent to improve the atmosphere, and the audience reacted on every small gesture. His voice in live performance may not be on the same level as on the studio record, but he has more than enough charisma to make up for it. The peak of the performance was the moment when Jared has brought fifty fans to the stage to join him in “Kings and Queens”. “Things have gone out of control a little, so the concert was paused for a while to pacify the fans. After that, there was a photo-session for the famous Jared’s profile on one social network. 30 Seconds To Mars have played only 13 songs in Zagreb, which is too little for the audience who have seen them for the first time. Unfortunately, no songs from the first album were played. At the end of the fantastic concert, Jared said to the beloved audience that he will certainly return to Croatia. So we can only hope that the next time they will stay a little longer on the stage.

Setlist:

1. Escape

2. A beautiful lie

3. Attack

4. Search and destroy

5. This is war

6. 100 suns

7. Vox Populi

8. Hurricane (unplugged)

9. Alibi (unplugged)

10. Night of the hunter (acoustic)

11. Closer to the edge

Encore:

12. The Kill

13. Kings and queens

Speaking generally about the Mars Festival, the main disadvantage was the fact that most of the performers were playing at the same time as the main guests on the main stage, so I managed to see only Mizar, and listen only a few songs from other bands. We hope that the next year Mars Festival will surprise us again with the interesting performers, because this one will remain a fond memory for all who were there. And, who knows, maybe we will see 30 Seconds To Mars again, with a longer set list.

Report: Dejan Plantak
Photo:  Bruno  Konjević (Cropix)

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